


Untitled Superheroes or Why you should never let the media decide your superhero name

by Trinity12



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Fluff, Heroes and Villains, Implied Bottom Jared, M/M, Misunderstandings, No Onscreen Sex, Swearing, a pet chameleon, not permanent or anything, superheroes are normal, violence and injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 06:48:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11480931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trinity12/pseuds/Trinity12
Summary: Splashing color from your fingertips isn't the greatest superpower to have. But when a new villain emerges who only brings darkness it is left to a young reporter and his disabled chameleon to save the city. And maybe fall in love with his roommate along the way...Featuring Jared as a reluctant hero with a peculiar gift and a sense for bad timing, lots of color being splashed around and two boys being oblivious to what is right in front of them.Or:The hero and the villain unknowingly share a flat.





	Untitled Superheroes or Why you should never let the media decide your superhero name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [siennavie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/siennavie/gifts).



> The biggest thank you goes to my great artist!  
> Siennavie made the most amazing art and beta'd the story, I honestly don't know where I would be without you <3  
> Please go check out the awesome artpost at http://siennavie.livejournal.com/98568.html.  
> A thank you to my second beta, A.  
> A thank you to Wendy, for organizing the bang.  
> And of course a thank you to you, dear reader.  
> I hope you like it.  
> R&R is always welcome ;)  
> Love,  
> the shadowcat

Jared was standing right in front of the apartment building, the first of his twenty boxes in his arms.

Despite the tall buildings and the huge area Rock City covered, finding an apartment here was hell. Rent was high, apartments tiny and definitely not enough existed.

Which was how he had ended up here.

Carefully balancing the box with one arm Jared reached out to ring the bell beside the name 'Ackles'.

He had spoken to the guy on the phone, who had seemed fairly nice as he growled: »Fine, you can move in by Monday.«

It had seemed like he had been as desperate to find a roommate as Jared had been to find a place to stay.

A match made in heaven.

Hopefully.

He had never met the guy before after all.

The door buzzed and Jared pushed it open.

There was no elevator in the building which meant he had to climb the stairs nine floors up. It was one of those moments where he was very grateful for his a little better than average stamina and strength.

Ok, a lot better than average. Perks of being a super. Even if noone else apart from his family knew that. And Chad, Chad knew too, but he was super himself.

Finally arriving at his destination Jared set the box down in front of the door, rubbing his cheeks a little to make them look pink. Hey, he had to make Mister Ackles believe he was completely normal, so looking a tiny bit exhausted was helpful.

Not finding the door bell Jared decided to knock.

A few moments later the door opened.

»You Padaletzki?«, Ackles asked in the same low growl he used on the phone.

He looked like he was in his late twenties and hadn't slept in a few days. There were dark circles beneath his eyes which were framed by wire rimmed glasses and his dirty blond hair stood up every which way. Nevertheless, Jared couldn't stop himself from noting that his future roommate was quite attractive. Somewhere beneath all the layers of grumpy tiredness.

Jared nodded. »And, uh, it's, uhm, PadaleCKi, Mister Ackles.«

»Whatever.« Ackles stepped away from the door. »Let's continue this inside, shall we?«

Jared picked up his box and followed into the apartment.

 

The apartment was bigger than Jared had hoped, with a living room spacious enough to fit a couch, an armchair and a TV along with a few shelves, a separate kitchen and a small hallway.

Ackles veered straight into the kitchen not looking back to see if Jared was following.

The kitchen was small, with a table that could barely fit two, a counter which was dominated by a coffee machine and a surprisingly huge fridge.

Ackles went straight for the coffee. After pouring himself a cup he turned back to Jared, who was awkwardly standing in the middle of the kitchen.

»Do you want one too?«

Jared politely declined.

»Kay.« Ackles took a sip, closing his eyes and breathing a sigh of pleasure.

»Let's get this show on the road then. You can put that box on the table.«

Jared did.

»Good. We spoke about most things on the phone. I'll just show you your room and if you like it you can go and get the rest of your stuff. I am assuming that not all your belongings are in there.« Ackles pointed at the box.

Jared was about to say that he already loved the room, no matter what it would be, but Ackles cut him off.

»How you fit it all in the room is your problem. Just one more thing, I hope you don't have any pets.«

Of course that was the moment that Muffin chose to climb out the box, using one of the pencils leaning against the edge. Both his eyes were fixed on Ackles, like he was determining if he was a threat or not. Apparently not, since Muffin slowly reached over to the potted plant on the windowsill while one eye stayed fixed on Ackles and the other flitted over his surroundings.

Jared looked at his beloved pet in dread.

»What is _that_?«, Ackles asked after following Jared's gaze.

»That's... my... pet chameleon«, Jared finally answered, reaching to pry Muffin off the plant. »I am sorry, I didn't know about the no pet rule, I-«

Jared's rambling was cut short by an "Aha" from Ackles. He took a sip of his coffee.

»I am allergic to hamsters, guinea pigs and cats, and the flat is too small for a dog, and when I say dog I mean dog and not a little chiuaua, that's just a nervous bundle of annoying. Never thought I'd have a roommate crazy enough to have a chameleon.«

He sipped on his coffee again. »It got a name?«

Jared turned beet red as he put Muffin on his shoulder, the little guy looking around interestedly. He swallowed.

»Muffin.«

»I'm Jensen.«

»Jared.«

»Good, now that that is done, please get the little green guy out of my kitchen and into your room.«

And just like that Jared had a place to stay.

It turned out that Jensen was very easy to live with. The guy was basically a hermit.

Jared saw him maybe once or twice a day after moving in and when he did it was more often than not only in passing.

He didn't spend much time dwelling on what Jensen might be doing locked in his room for hours on end. He was too busy for that.

After getting a job at the Rock City Herald, which was pretty impressive since he had only just finished his bachelor in journalism at a mediocre university and had one, one meager internship on his resume, Jared's life had turned upside down.

He had had to move from his small hometown in Telra to the second biggest city of the country, finding a place to stay and adjusting to city life.

He didn't want to blow it at the Herald and that meant working three times as hard as he had ever done before.

It was exhausting, especially since he wasn't much more thana lowly reporter, the one that covered old ladies getting their twentieth cat or an elementary school spelling bee, but at the end of the day Jared still fell into bed feeling content.

Not happy, he didn't have the energy for that, but content enough that he did not fear his alarm clock ringing him awake.

His life was structured now, busy, rewarding and Jared didn't want a thing to change. Okay, maybe being able to cover bigger stories and a promotion would be nice.

The general concept of his life was pretty amazing though.

Jared was living his dream.

Of course someone had to go and screw it up for him.

 

 

They called him The Viper. He was a thief, but more importantly he was a super.

He had robbed the jewellery store down where 42nd met Kent Boulevard, one of the most prestigious shops of the whole city.

He had just waltzed in, wearing all black from his skinny jeans to his hoodie to his back pack.

He had pulled the brilliant glass doors to the shop closed and turned the lock.

Darkness came, shiny stones and twinkling metal swallowed by black as The Viper sucked all light from the room.

Panic broke out as the first slivers of dark made their way through the shop, spreading like a disease.

A staffmember bravely tried to push the emergency button. By the time she reached it everything was black.

Disoriented in the dark the people had lost track of the thief, who swiftly and soundlessly moved around, making quick work of clearing out all the displays, setting off the alarm.

He continued with the safe when the police arrived.

They broke open the door, flashlights not able to penetrate the pitch black in the shop.

The first police man fell to the ground with a thud.

The second felt a fleeting touch to his neck before his legs gave out.

One by one everyone who entered was subdued, while the black from the shop spilled onto the street.

When the black had cleared out the thief was long gone.

The policemen lay on the ground, some twitching a little, their muscles spasming while others were completely paralyzed.

The venom they had been injected with was not lethal, luckily.

It has still taken them out just like that.

 

 

Jared looked away from the news article he had been reading when he felt something tap against his hand. Muffin had crawled out of his habitat once more and now demanded Jared's attention.

Muffin rubbed his head against Jared's palm, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Jared sighed.

»Ok, little guy«, he muttered as he scooped the small creature up in his hand.

The thing was, while Jared was a super, which was kind of cool, his main power was, well, fairly useless.

He came from a family of supers and a little extra strength and stamina ran in the family. And luckily Jared was no exception, because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to bear it.

While his brother could manipulate gravity, enabling him to fly and lift entire tanks but also pin you where you stood, something Jared had had to endure a lot when he was younger, and his sister was basically bulletproof combined with above average superstrength, Jared could...

Jared could splash color from his fingertips.

Yes. Exactly.

Splashes of color, reds, blues, greens, whatever, coming from his finger tips.

Not manipulating the color of something or even making concrete shapes, just blobs of color.

At least he had some control over which color, even if it gave him a headache most times.

The teasing from his childhood still rang in his head on some occasions.

He had already had a tough position as a middle child and the fact that he had such a useless power only rubbed in how mediocre he was.

His brother was, as his parents had predicted, a well known superhero, over in Arken City, the capitol. He had made it big, saving the president from an assassination.

At least Jared had Muffin.

When he had wandered into the pet shelter in search for a companion the chameleon had immediately caught his eye. As the shelter employee had explained Muffin had been given to the shelter by his previous owner because he was unable to change color.

Jared had taken pity on the creature and taken him in.

Somehow it turned out that Muffin really liked being splashed in color. Maybe it made him feel like a functioning chameleon.

So Jared would do that, whenever Muffin asked him to, like he was right now. It made Jared feel better too.

His power was good for something, no matter how little.

Jared had learned to be happy with being mediocre.

With having a disabled chameleon and an almost useless power.

He gently stroked Muffin's head, asking: »What would you like today? Blue? Yellow? Purple? Red?«

Muffin let out a purring sound.

»Red?«

Muffin purred again.

»Red it is then.«

Jared positioned Muffin on his hand, moving his right hand so it was only a few inches from Muffin's face.

He put his pointer finger behind his thumb, like he was forming an O with his hand and then let his pointer flick forward.

A little splash of red landed on Muffin's nose. Jared could swear if chameleons were able to smile, Muffin was doing it right now.

Happily Muffin walked forward, touching his nose to Jared's still extended finger. Jared obliged the unspoken request and petted his chameleon again.

A few moments later he put him back on the table, returning to the article he had read.

This was not good. Of course, Jared was sure, a superhero would soon turn up and stop this new thief, if he would show again, but still.

A villain had emerged and Jared did not at all like the poison aspect of this one's power.

At this point he was kind of glad that he was only expected to cover Glinda's friendship pottery competition on Thursday.

When Jared left his room a few hours later to get himself something to drink he found Jensen in the kitchen, wiggling his ass to "Wiggle Wiggle" of all songs and chopping... something.

Maybe Jared had fallen asleep and was dreaming, because the chances of his reclusive, grumpy roommate dancing in sweatpants and singing along to one of the stupidest songs ever composed while cooking were, well, incredibly low.

Also, nobody looked that good in sweatpants in real life.

Jared decided that observing from the doorframe and hoping to wake up was an appropriate action.

»I haven't started on the noodles yet, so if you want you can help me and eat some too«, Jensen said as he turned around, putting whatever he chopped into one of the bowls on the counter.

»Or you can just stare at my ass and starve, whatever you prefer.« With a wink he turned back to the chopping board.

Jared nearly choked on his own spit, making some kind of gargled sound.

Jensen laughed.

»Uh, yeah, uh, sure«, Jared replied once he found his voice again.

»Good. You can get the dough from the fridge.«

Jared did, all the while wondering what the hell had happened to his roommate. Maybe an Alien had taken over his body. Or a super who could change shape was imitating him. Oh crap.

Jared looked at Jensen who was still holding the huge chopping knife and cradled the bowl with dough protectively against his chest.

»Why so cheerful?«, he asked wearily.

Jensen smiled at him and God, it was distracting. »Finally got paid.«

It was the most sensible explanation Jared had ever heard.

»Wait, you don't get monthly paychecks?«

»Not when working freelance. Now give me the dough 'cause the filling is done.«

Jensen pried the bowl from Jared's fingers: »Have you ever made tortellini?«

Jared shook his head no, because at this point he came to the conclusion that this had to be real. He could have never dreamed something like this up.

»I'll teach you then.«

 

As it turned out, making tortellini from scratch was a time consuming, concentration requiring and frustrating task, even with Jensen trying to help him.

The dough was either too sticky or not sticky enough and Jared had a tendency to overstuff.

In the end they had 29 perfectly shaped (Jensen's) and 16 lumpy (Jared's) tortellini.

»Don't worry about it«, Jensen patted Jared on the back. »The first time is never perfect.«

Jared snorted. »Please don't remind me, I don't want any flashbacks.«

Then it registered what he said and felt his face heat up.

»I can see you blushing, even through the flour stuck to your cheek«, Jensen commented as he reached for the parsley, making Jared furiously try to wipe it away.

For some reason they were flirting and Jared didn't mind one bit, if anything, he was surprised how easily they had gotten comfortable around eachother.

It felt like he had known Jensen for weeks, which, yes, was technically true, but not really, since they hadn't seen eachother a lot in that time.

The sauce was prepared quickly, simmering on the stove while the tortellini were cooked.

Jared set the table as Jensen made some last minute adjustments to the seasoning.

 

»Ungh«, Jared let out a moan when he tasted the tortellini.

Jensen snickered. »So, Jared, how are you adjusting to big city life?«

»Ok, I think«, Jared replied after swallowing that enticing first bite.

»I mean, I still haven't figured out the bus schedule and one of my editors is a total dick, but I have a chef for a roomate and a place to stay, so it's not all bad.«

Jensen blushed, freaking blushed, mumbled: »I'm not that good of a cook, but thanks. Glad to hear you are doing ok. Sorry that I didn't really help you when you arrived.«

»Nah, that's ok, I was pretty happy to jump into cold water for once«, Jared responded, loading his fork with another tortellini. »I felt like Bilbo. "I'm going on an adventure".«

Jensen laughed.

Jared wanted to hear that sound as often as possible.

»I remember feeling like that when I first came here.«

»When was that?«

»I'm not gonna tell you or you'll think I am old«, Jensen was biting back a smile.

»Then you do not look your age.« Looking down at his food Jared tried to a) remember to eat before it got cold while carrying on the conversation and b) figure out why they were still flirting.

 

Jared sat at his desk, a happy multicolored Muffin sitting on his stapler, while contemplating if kissing Jensen would be worth possibly losing his housing when his phone rang.

Without thinking he picked it up, regretting it the second he heard the cheery voice of his mother come from the speaker.

»Hello, Jared.«

»Hi, Mom.«

»You are talking to your mother, you could sound a bit happier«, she scolded.

He forced himself to smile. »Hey, Mom.«

»Now that's what I am talking about. I am calling to tell you your brother will be awarded with a medal of honor in two weeks-«

 _Another one?_ Jared thought to himself.

»And I expect you to be there.«

»Yeah, no, I'm sorry, I don't think that will be possible«, Jared replied.

»You will be able to take a day off from work I assume.«

»No Mom, I can't. Because it won't be a day. I would have to take off almost half a week because of travel. I neither have the time nor the money for such a trip right now.«

»Money won't be a problem, I'd gladly pay for you.«

»Really? Where was that generosity when I needed a down payment for a flat?«

»Now, Jared, don't get greedy, I did pay your whole college tuition after all, even though I still don't understand why you decided to study journalism.«

If it hadn't been for Muffin purring and pushing his head against Jared's palm he would have thunked his head against the table.

His mother had paid part of his tuition. Most of it had been either from his own savings that he had accumulated with the help of summer vacation jobs and his inheritance from his grandmother.

He missed her.

»I'm fine by the way, thank you for asking.«

His mother ignored him.

»I will send you the details and a flight ticket. This is an important moment for your brother. I hope you will have lost the attitude by then.«

She hung up.

Jared withstood the urge to throw his phone across the room.

There was a knock on the door, which opened a second later and Jensen stuck his head inside.

»I made lasagna, do you want some? It's with rice though, because I thought we just had noodles, so... Yeah.«

Jared nodded. »Sure, I mean I've never had rice lasagna before.«

Jensen chuckled. »Me neither. What happened to your chameleon by the way?«

Shit.

»Uh«, Jared looked at Muffin who sat on the stapler like he was king of the world, wearing turquoise, yellow and pink spatters. »He is, uh, kind of... disabled? So... sometimes I paint him. He always seems happy when I do it.« He shrugged.

»Ok«, Jensen smiled. »If it works for you, who am I to judge, right?«

And just like that Jared's spirits were up again after the talk with his mother.

 

Jared didn't open the email he got from his mother a day later.

He felt a bit bad about it at first. It was a big day for his brother after all.

But his brother hadn't been there for Jared's high school graduation. Or his college graduation. Or his twenty first birthday party.

So Jared was allowed to skip out on him getting his third medal of honor. He had been there the first two times.

He didn't have to travel to Arken City for six hours by plane and skip work just to stand somewhere in the background and listen to people gush about his brother.

He could just stay where he was and enjoy his life as it was.

With good food, a working TV and Jensen in it.

 

He still had work to do and research and reporting took up a lot of his time, which was another reason why he was grateful that Jensen cooked him the tastiest meals.

There was nothing quite like coming home from work after being yelled at - the article he had written about a garden gnome collector had apparently been too enthusiastic- and smelling the delightful scent of some chicken tandoori or pancakes in the apartment.

And the flirting didn't hurt either.

Jared had once asked Jensen how he managed to stay so pristinely clean while cooking and Jensen had simply shrugged in reply.

Ever since then it was Jared's mission to watch Jensen's every move, trying to figure out how he did it. In reality it was just an excuse to watch Jensen's muscle ripple under his shirt while cutting up vegetables.

And stare at his arms.

And bowlegs.

And everything.

And getting called out for staring too long.

 

Maybe it was a bad joke, that things came to a head on the day he was supposed to watch his brother get honored for being a super.

Which he had not done in favor of his own quiet little life.

Jared could hear the keys twisting in the lock and a second later Jensen entered the apartment. It didn't take him long to spot Jared on the couch holding the package of frozen peas to his face.

»Oh my fucking God what in the world happened to you?«

»I ran into a door«, Jared replied. He didn't know how bad he looked, but judging by Jensen's expression it must have been pretty bad.

Jensen knelt down in front of Jared and took the peas from him, drawing in a sharp breath as he saw the bruise forming around Jared's right eye.

»Give me a second, I'll get some things to take care of this«, Jensen mumbled and disappeared with the peas.

The facts were these:  
Jared hadn't wanted to run into a door. He normally wouldn't have run into the door.

He had simply not seen the door because it had been pitch black around him.

He didn't get to reminisce further when Jensen returned, holding a tube with some sort of salve and a bottle with pills or something.

»Ok.« He sat down on the coffee table so he was level with Jared.

He set down the tube, put on his glasses and screwed open the bottle.

»How long have you been cooling this?«

»About fifteen minutes, I guess«, Jared replied as he watched Jensen pour a few little balls into the palm of his hand.

»Ok, that's good, never cool longer than 20 minutes. Take these, they will help with the swelling.«

»How do you know that stuff?«, Jared asked after swallowing them.

»Wisdom teeth removal.«

»Ah.«

Jensen then took the salve, put some on his finger and started applying it on the bruise.

He was so careful that Jared could barely feel his fingertip. Jared couldn't decide where to look.

The tip of Jensen's tongue was poking out between his teeth in concentration, while his green eyes framed by the black rimmed glasses looked absolutely gorgeous. Oh, decisions decisions.

»You know, there is something positive about this«, Jensen smirked.

Jared raised his eyebrow. »What?«

»The color of the bruise really makes your eyes pop.«

Jared chuckled. »You're flirting with me, now?«

»Come on, you love it when I'm flirting with you«, Jensen quipped, cleaned his finger on the cloth and dropped a quick kiss to the tip of Jared's nose.

As Jensen went to the kitchen to hopefully make some delicious food Jared thought back on how the whole thing with the door had happened, if only to distract himself from any thoughts about what happened just seconds ago.

 

Jared had been on the third floor of the department store, filing through the wool in the crafts department—he liked making his own beanies, sue him—when he heard the request over the speakers that everyone should leave the store, if not the building.

He sighed. Of course, it was his free afternoon and he couldn't even go shopping in peace.

Putting the wool back on the shelf he turned towards the escalators and stopped dead in his tracks.

Darkness was creeping up the walls, spreading so quickly everything would be black in a few moments.

The Viper was here.

Fuck.

He tried to remember where the emergency stairs were located, but through the darkness spreading he couldn't make out the exit sign, if there even was one. He could hear people yelling on the lower levels, a child crying for its parents.

By now the ground he was standing on had turned black and he couldn't see his feet anymore.

Someone bumped into him from behind, causing Jared to jump in surprise.

A little spatter of green landed on his shoe.

The shrill ring of the alarm sounded.

The person dissappeared in the dark, from the sounds of it running into one of the display cases, glass shattering and loud cursing following suit.

Jared was still looking at his shoe. For some inexplicable reason the green was still visible.

He flung a few bigger spatters on the ground before him, happily noting that the light blue even ran down into the ridges of the tiled floor, giving him a vague idea how the ground beneath him looked. Only the ceiling wasn't completely dark yet.

Hearing the curses turn into screams for help on his left Jared decided to kick his apprehension to the curb.

He didn't want to be a hero, but he could deal with being a helper.

One giant blob of red landed on the leg of the injured woman, who loudly exclaimed: »What the fuck?«

Jared could understand why.

»Hi, don't worry, it's ok«, he tried to sound as non threatening as possible. Stay cool, stay calm. For some reason he felt bone deep relaxed. freaking adrenaline. There was a crashing sound some level lower.

»I am here to help you, ok? I'm not gonna hurt you, just help you find the way out.«

»What the hell is this?«, she asked, the dark shape of her hand appearing over the red.

»Uh, color, I think.«

Jared reached out to take her hand.

»Is it washable?«

»No clue. Can you walk?«

»I think so. I'm Suzie, by the way.«

»Nice to meet you, Suzie.«

He pulled her up. And miscalculated a bit. Since he couldn't see her, he had assumed her to be a bit... fuller. As it turned out Suzie had to be a twig, judging by how she crashed into his chest with the momentum.

He apologized.

»You are new to saving people, aren't you.«

»Yup«, thank god that it was dark and she couldn't see his ears turn red. »I think the exit is that way.« A splash of yellow landed on the register. »Ok, no, that way.«

Purple smacked on the way and dropped over an edge.

They had found the escalator.

 

As it turned out going down a non moving escalator side by side with only a few blobs of color to go by was... difficult to say the least.

Somehow they managed.

Somehow in this case meaning barely.

But they managed, half stumbling, half falling.

The second floor had a pathway to the adjoining mall and Jared hoped to get Suzie out there.

The second floor was also, as expected, pure chaos.

One of the security guys from the mall was shouting that everyone should stay calm, but of course noone listened.

Jared took a deep breath, mapping out where they were in his mind, before flinging multiple splashes of color into the space in front of them.

Like a puzzle parts of the room became visible again through the big splashes attaching themselves to various surfaces.

It didn't help the chaos though.

People who had stayed where they were now started moving again, since they were able to make out some of their surroundings. Darkness was scary enough, but random color showing up seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back as they started running.

Like a swarm of fish they were streaming towards the pathway door.

»There you go, follow them, they will get you out.« He gently pushed Suzie towards the others, spattering some more color on the way.

»What about you?«

»I-«, Jared broke off when he spotted a pink spot that was not moving in the same direction as the others, coming right towards them. To the escalators. And whoever the spot was attached to seemed to know exactly where he was going as he stepped on the escalator going down to the first floor.

The Viper.

»I gotta take care of something first«, Jared finished.

He didn't wait for a response, just flung more color while making his way to the other escalator. Meanwhile he could hear the doors to the pathway break open with the group of people pushing against them. So they would get out.

The pink spot dissappeared when Jared reached the escalator, so he quickly placed a few spots on the railing of it, sat down and let himself slide down.

The Viper was whistling as he emptied out the register.

Jared flicked out a few more splashes, all of which missed the sock display which in turn buried itself in Jared's stomach when he moved towards the Viper.

Both his uff as well as the clattering of the display alerted the Viper to his presence. The pink spot was moving away from Jared quickly.

Without really thinking about it Jared followed, throwing color as fast and wide as he could, a little orange spot joining the pink one.

On his way he ran into more displays, taking them down, but he never stopped.

He got closer and closer to the moving spots, so close he reached out and started grabbing the thin air.

There was a snick of a door being opened. He got close enough to grab the string of a backpack holding fast against the pull of the other man, who was undeniably strong.

Then pain exploded in Jared's skull.

So the door had been falling closed as he had grabbed the string and now he had gotten the edge of it right in his face.

Instinctively he let go of the backpack, trying to stay upright.

He could hear the shouts and heavy footfalls of police upstairs.

Despite the pain that was nearly blinding him right now Jared moved outside through the door. He ended up in a stairwell.

He went up, stumbled out into the second floor a few minutes later, where the darkness was already fading and didn't even have to pretend that much to convice the police he was nothing more than an innocent, disoriented bystander.

And that was how he had ran into the door.

But there was no way he would tell Jensen that.

 

Jensen, who right this moment came back into the living room, holding a plate with sandwiches.

»Want to watch some TV?« He put the plate down on the coffee table.

Jared nodded. »Sure, always. And. Uh, thanks for taking care of me.«

»Ah, don't mention it«, Jensen winked.

And now Jared could add beet red to the list of colors currently displayed on his face.

Awesome.

Jensen let himself flop onto the couch beside him, put his legs up on the coffee table, took a sandwich and turned on the TV.

The picture of a newsanchor flickered on the screen over the headline "Viper strikes again".

»-f the second Super that was present at the scene is an accomplice of the Viper is not very likely as the unknown man helped a civilian and then pursued the suspect.«

Jared did his best not to choke on his sandwich and just stopped chewing all together.

A young woman appeared on screen, beneath her face the word "Suzanne Masters, Witness".

»You wanna watch this or should I start channel surfing?«, Jensen asked, seemingly oblivious to Jared's reaction.

»Hm? Uh, oh. Yeah, no surf away.«

Jensen pressed a few buttons and started flicking through the channels.

Click. TLC.

»Is the sandwich ok?«

Click. PBS.

»Huh?«

Click. HBO.

»You aren't eating, is your sandwich ok?«

Click. QVC.

Jared looked at the sandwich in his hand. »Yes, it's amazing, sorry, lost in thought. Could you go back? I think that was Game of Thrones.«

»Sure.«

Click. Back to HBO.

It was Game of Thrones. Rerun.

Jensen put the remote aside. »Then bon appetit. Oh look, there is Stannis, freaking hate that guy.«

»What, why?«, Jared asked around a mouthful of delicious sandwich.

»What he does to his daughter alone is just-«

»Dude, spoilers! I'm not caught up yet!«

Jensen laughed. »Oh. Sorry.«

He then regarded Jared with a curious look. »You know, even with salad hanging out of your mouth, you still look adorable.«

This time Jared choked. »Why do you always say stuff like that?«

»Because it's true«, Jensen shrugged.

And turned back to the TV without any more words.

 

Jared could feel Jensen's body heat beside him and it was driving him a little crazy.

Jensen's gaze was fixed on the TV, the pictures reflected in his glasses.

Fucking nerdy glasses on his fucking perfect profile, Jared thought. That nose, those lips, those freaking lashes.

The opening credits sequence of Game Of Thrones flickered over the screen for the third time that night and over the course of the last two episodes they had inched closer and closer together, still not touching, but Jared would only have to reach out and...

»I thought you wanted to watch GOT so why do you keep staring at me?«, Jensen smirked.

In a split second decision Jared leaned over and kissed him.

It was off kilter and awkward and not at all pleasant with the frame of Jensen's glasses digging into his face. He quickly broke away, burying himself in the couch cushions on the far end.

Jensen laughed.

Great.

»Dude, finally, I thought you would never get up the courage.«

Brain to mouth filter currently suspended, Jared replied: »I can get up a lot of different things.«

And again Jensen laughed. Leaned forward, bracing himself on the couch with one hand, putting his glasses on the coffee table with the other.

And then, it wasn't awkward anymore.

With Jared half lying on the couch, Jensen on top of him, both of them aware of what was coming.

Haha, coming, Jared thought to himself, before his brain shut off when Jensen's lips touched his.

As it turned out they were as plush as they looked.

And Jensen knew what he was doing.

Oh yeah, he knew what he was doing.

All too soon he drew back, lips pink where Jared had bitten them.

»Jared?«

»Uhu?« Very eloquent, Jared.

»Please tell me that thing slowly crawling up my back is your chameleon and not Mister Kline's giant spider.«

Jensen's eyes were squeezed shut as Jared carefully moved out from under him.

He held himself in the same position like a statue and sure enough, there was Muffin, bravely making his way up Jensen's spine, one foot at a time.

Jared scooped up the little creature who looked at him like he had just offended his ancestors.

»Do not fret, the beast has been tamed«, Jared exclaimed proudly. Muffin turned around, decidedly not looking at Jared.

»Asshat«, Jensen rumbled.

»Oh come on, is that how you thank your savior?«

»Put down the chameleon and I'll show you how I thank my savior.« Jensen raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Jared had never ever before been this quick in bringing Muffin back into his room.

He ignored his phone flashing that he had three missed calls from his mother.

 

The next day at work Jared got cornered by the coffee machine by Felicia from the Entertainment section.

»Hey Jared.«

»Hi Felicia«, Jared still had his back turned on her as he was waiting for the machine to finish filling his cup.

»So have you heard about that new s-oh my god what happened to your face?«

Jared sipped his coffee. He had gotten pretty much the same reaction all day whenever someone saw him. And like he had done countless times he simply replied: »A door.«

»Ok, sounds bad, sorry.« Felicia took a moment to gather herself. »Now, as I was saying, have you heard? There's some new super in town who took on the Viper in a department store yesterday, like, he's got this freaky cool power of, no one really knows, conjuring up colors or something that are still visible in the darkness thing the Viper does, so they call him the Peacock.« A short pause. »Jared, are you alright, you look a bit pale.«

»What? Yeah, I'm... fine.«

»Very convincing. Wait a second, yesterday was your day off, wasn't it?«

Jared nodded. Felicia had that look on her she always got when she was chasing a story.

He didn't like that look being directed at him.

»You were there.« She looked like a lion going in for the kill. Jared wanted to bolt right then.

»You saw him.«

Crisis averted. Barely.

»You gotta tell Mr. Sheppard! He would so love to have an inside scoop on the story, we could print a special on it right tomorrow.«

Jared did his best not to clench his fingers. He was holding his favorite work mug and didn't want to lose it. »How? No, I wasn't, haven't-« So his brain had finally kicked in.

»Don't try. You are talking to the woman who figured out that Chris Pine was going to be the next Kirk before the casting announcement was even on the horizon.«

She patted his arm. Jared cringed internally.

»Ok, you are right. But I won't talk to Sheppard. I don't want to talk about the experience, period. And I will not talk about it. I just want to forget it.«

Her face fell and Jared felt a bit bad for going off like that, but he had to make clear that he wanted nothing to do with it.

»But, but, you got to witness two supers, wasn't that-«

»Yes and one of them threw a door in my face. I think I got enough of supers for a while.«

He wormed his way out between her and the counter and made his way back to his cubicle.

It was only when he was sitting at his desk again that something else made it to the forefront of his brain.

The Peacock.

He now had a superhero name.

A shitty one.

He groaned and dropped his head on his keyboard.

At least he didn't have it as bad as Paste-Pot Pete.

Poor guy had went through hell in highschool.

 

When Jared was on his way home his cellphone rang. A look at the display told him it was Chad and after a moment of contemplation Jared picked up.

»Hey Chad.«

»J-Dog, it's your favorite guy, the Chadster.«

He sounded far too cheerful.

»I know, that's why I said "Hey Chad". Wait, isn't The Chadster what you call your penis?«

»How do you know?«

»We shared a dorm, asshole.«

There was silence on the other end.

Then: »Anyway, do you have access to a TV right now? Or a smartphone?«

»Chad, you called me on my smartphone!«

An old lady glared at Jared, since his voice had risen with the last words.

»Just... give me a minute, I'm almost home.«

»Awesome. I made it on the news!«

»I suspect terrible«, Jared mumbled, fishing for his keys.

He was still a block away, but he could fish and walk simultaneously, thank you very much, so he justified looking goofy by thinking it spared him time.

 

The TV was already on when he finally made it to the apartment, some football game flickering on the screen while Jensen was standing in the middle of the living room, ironing some clothes.

»Hey, Jay«, he greeted, mouthing 'sorry' once he saw that Jared was on the phone.

Jared took the phone off his ear. »Do you mind if I switch for second?«

Jensen shrugged. »Go ahead.«

»Thanks«, Jared put the phone back to his ear. »Now which channel was it?«

A second later they were watching the Major News Network.

Jared groaned when he saw 'Chad Michael "Mayhem" Murray - Super' written under his friend's face.

He couldn't really hear what the reporter was saying nor Chad's response because said guy was still babbling in his ear.

»You know, I came up with the name.«

He sounded so satisfied with himself.

»I am really proud of you«, Jared replied, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

Jensen snickered.

»Ok, Chad, no, it's awesome. I'm sorry, but I gotta go, I had an exhausting day and I think I'll just go sleep..... Yeah, really cool!..... Yes, Miss Olten's flower pot fell on my foot, whatever, bye Chad!«

Jared hung up.

»I don't even know why we are friends anymore.« He sighed. »Can you tell me what he did, because the way he acted he just saved the whole world from nuclear annihilation.«

Jensen laughed. »It boils down to saving a cat from a burning building.«

»Knew it.« Jared flopped down on to the couch. »You know, ever since we were kids he wanted to become a well known superhero. And I mean like, he has the potential, he is a freaking pyrokinetic after all, but just the way he goes about it doesn't work. At all. I got evicted from my last home because he set the toaster on fire.«

Jensen snorted.

Jared flicked back to the football game. »And just for the record, he didn't come up with Mayhem. Our TA did when he found out Chad was behind the melting lockers. Quite literally.«

»What did you people do at college?«, Jensen shook his head, laughing.

Jared shrugged.

Jensen unplugged the iron and set it aside. »Quick question, do you know any good methods to remove paint stains from clothing?«

That should have been Jared's first clue. But being all wrapped up in memories of college and mentally scolding himself for not doing the same thing Chad had done and give himself his own superhero name, because now he was stuck with the seemingly stupidest name possible, which, yes, shouldn't bother him because the chances of him taking on the Viper again were pretty slim, but still, it bugged him, he just shook his head and muttered: »Nope, sorry.«

A few moments later Jensen joined him on the couch.

 

Jared's phone wouldn't stop ringing.

Seriously, what was it with people calling him all the time now.

No one had called him in months, apart from his boss every now and then and now it seemed like everyone wanted to talk to him.

He reached out, searching for his phone while still half asleep. He almost grabbed Muffin and held him against his ear, but noticed the mistake early enough to put the disgruntled chameleon back down and finally pick up his phone.

»'lo?«

»Hi, brother.«

»Hey, Jordan, what's up?«

As difficult as his relationship with his parents and his brother was, he actually got along fairly well with his little sister.

They had been texting a bit over the past weeks, not much, but enough for him to know about Brian, the guy she liked at school and her to know about Jensen's cooking skills.

»I've got two things I want to talk about, actually. But first tell me, how is the big city treating you?«

»Ok, I'd say, far less exciting than you would believe.«

Oh if she knew.

»Now, what about you?«

»Well«, she paused. »I would have told you if you had come to see Jake getting his medal, but I get why you didn't. Anyway, so, uhm, big news...I'm going to join the military when I graduate.«

Jared didn't respond immediately. The thought of his little sister joining the military and going into a warzone, which she most definitely would, given her powers, had stunned him into silence.

»So yeah, I know, believe me, big decision, dangerous and all, but... I feel like it's the right thing for me. Now anyway, uh, I'm hosting a farewell party in a few months because of that and I know you are busy so I thought I'd better invite you now, so you can maybe take a day off because you'd have enough time to plan it because I would really like for you to be there and now I am rambling, I'm sorry.«

»When is the party?«, Jared finally managed to say when his sister shut up.

He could hear how much it meant to her. It wasn't like it was with his brother. She actually wanted him there, not just as a decorational piece.

He could work something out.

They kept talking for a while until his sister grew quiet.

»Spit it out«, Jared playfully chided.

»Fine, just don't laugh, ok?«

»Of course.«

»Are you the Peacock?«

»Will you tell Mom and Dad?«

»Of course not.«

»Then, yes, I am.«

»Huh. Called it.«

»How did you figure it out?«

»Come on«, his sister sounded like he had just insulted her intelligence, which he kind of had. »You showed me your powers back in third grade when I asked you to help with an art project. You helped me 'unleash' a storm of paint, for you it was nothing special I think, but to me it was the coolest thing on the planet. It wasn't that hard putting two and two together, you know?«

Jared laughed. »You really think it's cool?«

»Duh.«

»Thanks, J. That means a lot to me.«

»No problem. Do you know who the Viper is?«

»Nope.«

»Huh. Ok, me neither.«

»Awesome.«

»I gotta go now, ugh. But, you are coming to my party, right?«

»Yup. Promise.«

»Great. Talk to you soon, love ya, big bro.«

»Love ya too, little shrimp.«

She hung up.

It was only after Jared had put down his phone that he remembered that he wanted to ask her if he could bring Jensen.

Being... what? Roommates-with-benefits? Friends-with-benefits? Whatever, it included benefits, with Jensen was pretty amazing.

Not only did Jared now get the most delicious meals, no, he also got a kiss or two with them, before Jensen once again disappeared into his room and Jared went to work.

You could say that his life had generally improved since he first kissed Jensen a few nights ago. Stella at work had even noted that he seemed even happier than usual.

They hadn't done much else yet, just kissing was amazing, who would have thought that kissing could be that exciting?

Ok, Jared's only real experience with kissing was from some drunken fumbling with Chad. Which had been more of a bad idea than anything else and they had agreed to never speak of the time it happened. The two times. Ok, five times. It was really good tequila and a really bad idea.

And there had been Melody, his girlfriend for six months when he was twenty one, who got incredibly turned on when he picked her up and carried her around like she weighed nothing until he accidentally bumped her into the ceiling fan.

She had broken up with him in the emergency room, claiming to not know who he was. To this day Jared wasn't sure if she had been telling the truth or just wanted to get it on with the hot paramedic who had carried her (safely) through the hallway.

So Jared was very very happy with this unnamed whatever it was between him and Jensen.

Which was how he ended up spending most his free time on the couch, liplocked with said roomate.

This time, like most times, had started innocently enough.

They had been watching a movie, Jared couldn't remember which right now, until Jensen had turned his head during one of the commercial breaks and his lips had looked so inviting and knowing that he could, that he was allowed to, Jared had leaned forward and...

Well that had been twenty minutes ago and right now Jensen was worming his hand under Jared's sweater.

Who giggled when Jensen's hand tickled over his ribcage, over the shirt.

Yes, over the shirt.

God, he felt like a teenager.

And Jensen the bastard tickled him again.

And again.

And again until Jared was a laughing, wheezing mess, trying to catch his breath as Jensen attacked him with what seemed to be at least two dozen fingers.

He stopped when Jared was half lying on the couch, like when they had first kissed.

This time Jared let his legs fall open, Jensen settling right between them.

»The chameleon?«, he asked, eyes glinting mischeviously.

»Safe inside my room. No way he is getting out.«

Jared strained up to catch his lips, but Jensen drew back, expression serious for a moment.

»If you don't want me to do something, just tell me no, ok? Or say stop, if you think we are going too fast. Seriously, I want you to always tell me when you don't like something.«

»Got it«, Jared replied. »Same goes for you.«

Now Jensen leaned down to kiss him.

They traded slow, lazy kisses for a few moments that soon turned more heated until Jensen left Jared's mouth to kiss down his jaw, gently bite at his neck on the way down.

He looked at Jared questioningly, waiting for him to nod before pushing up both sweater and shirt. It took Jared a second to realize it would be easier if he lifted up a bit.

Jensen rewarded his help with a kiss to his nipple, teeth grazing it for a second.

»Fuck, that feels awesome«, Jared breathed out.

»Good to know«, Jensen smirked, kissing his way down to Jared's belly button.

»Aren't you gonna-«

»Patience young Padawan.«

»Really, Star Wars? Now?«

»Your lightsaber seems interested...«

»JENSEN!«

Jensen chuckled and went lower.

»What do you want me to say then, Jay? That just the thought of getting my mouth on your cock makes me rock hard?«

Jensen's voice had dropped an octave.

»God.«

»Jensen will do fine.«

Jared let his head fall back. »You were off to such a great start and then you gotta say _that_!«

»Let me make it up to you then.« And there it was again, that low drawl that made heat coil in Jared's belly.

He watched as Jensen flicked open the button of his jeans, catching Jared's gaze before taking the zipper between his teeth and pulling it down agonizingly slow.

Jared swallowed, eyes falling closed for a second.

 

Jensen bit back a laugh when he went to pull down Jared's boxer shorts.

»What?«, Jared asked, pushing himself up on his elbows.

When he looked down he groaned, because this was just his luck.

Getting it on with the hot guy, who, right now, seemed entirely transfixed by the array of cartoon vegetables that covered every inch of the fabric. Most of all the goofy eggplants.

At Jared's sigh Jensen couldn't hold it in anymore and giggled.

»Please tell me you have more of these«, he managed to breathe out before laughing wholeheartedly.

»Oh yes, a bunch«, Jared confirmed. It didn't feel like Jensen was laughing at him, rather with him, so he felt comfortable egging him on.

»Not all with vegetables though, I hate to disappoint. But I got palmtrees and bananas, pineapple playing saxophones, mermaids in rugby uniforms-«, he sucked in a breath as Jensen let his head fall onto Jared's belly while still laughing manically. It made his warm breath puff against Jared's dick which in turn cut off the blood flow to his brain because it was desperately needed elsewhere.

As he calmed down Jensen returned to his previous task, mouthing along the line of Jared's cock through his boxers, teasing him before finally, fucking finally, pulling down the ridiculous underpants.

Jared pushed his hand into Jensen's hair, not pulling but to have something to ground him. It felt like silk between his fingers. If he hadn't been that horny right then he would have made a mental note to ask Jensen what shampoo he used.

Jensen spent quite some time just teasing Jared. Little kitten licks to the head of his cock, tonguing the slit until Jared thought he was going mad.

A single stroke up and down with his hand.

Jensen leaned back a little, cocking his head to look at Jared.

»Maybe«, he said, »maybe I should have mentioned that I can deepthroat.«

Jared's response of "what" came out as pretty much phonetical garbage when Jensen swallowed him down entirely.

 

Being cornered by Felicia was quickly becoming one of Jared's least favorite things because it usually entailed her trying to bribe him into talking to Sheppard.

So yes, he tried to avoid it at all costs.

»Hey Jared.«

»Hello, Felicia«, he plopped the last sugar cube into his coffee. Maybe he should stop getting coffee during his breaks.

»So, you are a nerd, am I right?«

Why was she so cheery? »Yes, you could say that.«

He smiled as he tried to worm his way out between her and the counter. She blocked him.

»I am allowed to take someone with me to the FanExpo two days from now and was wondering if you were interested in coming along.«

»Sorry, but I gotta work-«

»Don't worry it's all already taken care of, Sheppard got Brock to cover the bunny hop contest.«

Jared narrowed his eyes. »What's the catch?«

»There is none.«

»I don't believe you.«

»Fine. I thought I should apologize for bugging you about going to Sheppard with your story. I should have accepted that you didn't want to talk about it. Taking you seemed like a nice thing to do.«

Damn her but she sounded sincere.

Jared nodded. »Ok. Accepted.«

 

The Expo was huge, crowded and vibrating with energy.

»Who are you most excited to interview today?«, Felicia handed him his badge, identifying him as press.

»I don't know, who is here?«

»You didn't look at the program?«

»No?«, Jared's voice went up a pitch.

Felicia rolled her eyes. »I can't believe it.«

 

»You're my hero«, Jared breathed out.

»Thanks, but I only play one in the movies«, Jason Momoa winked.

Jared laughed, stopping once he saw Felicia shake her head, chuckling too.

»Chrm, yes, back to business, sorry.« He pulled at the hem of his shirt and tried to gather himself.

Felicia took over. As she talked Jared caught something in the corner of his eye.

One of the shadows near the wall looked weird.

Like it was expanding.

Fuck.

Someone on the other side of the wall screamed.

»We need to get out of here!«

»What?« Both Felicia and Momoa looked at him with a question mark on their face.

»NOW!« Jared pointed to the shadow which had now swallowed the poster.

Felicia jumped up. »Oh God, yes!«

And took off towards the shadow.

The noise on the other side of the wall was rising.

»Oh no«, Jared threw Momoa a tight smile. »She is chasing a story, I gotta- ugh, it was nice to meet you, like I said, big fan!« And with that he dashed after her.

Like in the department store the darkness was creeping up fast, swallowing everything in its wake.

Someone was giving directions through the speaker system, asking people to stay calm.

Looking to his right Jared saw the last splash of Felicia's red hair disappear in the dark.

He didn't want to get involved in this whole hero business again.

On the other hand... Here was his chance to be a hero in front of his hero.

Safety first though.

He grabbed one of the shirts laying around on one of the tables on his left, which were barely visible anymore.

In the chaos it was easy to snatch a pair of Ninja Turtle goggles, a cap and a scarf which he quickly wrapped around his head while hiding behind a potted plant.

Identity now protected he stepped out behind the fern and took in the space before him.

Which was now pitchblack.

With two quick flicks of his wrist he flung color into what had to be the middle aisle, where it attached itself to several people, merchandise and the ground.

What he hadn't expected there to be was cheering, shouts of "Peacock!" and the announcement over the speakers that those splashed in color should step aside to make way for him.

Which they surprisingly did.

Freaking nerds.

He made his way through the aisles, flinging color left and right until he caught sight of a bright yellow blob stuck to a backpack.

A moving backpack.

Bingo.

He started running, the crowd cheering him on.

The distance between them got shorter and shorter.

Jared threw another bit of color which attached itself to the Viper's pants.

The Viper kept running straight, leapt over one of the vendor's tables, grabbed something and scaled up one of the steel beams that were all over the convention center, holding up the ceiling, stopping at the top for a moment, apparently putting the item into the backpack.

Jared followed, far less graceful and plopped down after a catlike jump from the Viper, who took off towards where presumably the exit was.

There was a stinging in Jared's ankle, but he kept running.

He wouldn't let the Viper escape a second time.

In a feat of recklessness he jumped forward, catching the Viper around the hips and sending them both crashing into a vendor's table.

There were pained huffs and Jared was nearly feeling victorious when he felt the Viper wiggle his way out from under him.

Minimally losing his hold to reattach himself was not a good idea, as Jared found out when a boot connected with his ribcage.

Scrabbling to get a hold of the Viper again they wrestled their way through the remains of the vendor's table and a variety of colors Jared had put out.

Even though the Viper was smaller than him, not by much, but still Jared had the height advantage, the guy was incredibly bendy. And strong.

Very very strong.

In the end, much to the dismay of the crowd, Jared had to admit defeat.

The Viper cemented his victory with a vicious kick to Jared's injured ankle, letting him fall like a sawed off tree.

While he hit the ground a detail dawned to Jared. He could still move. The Viper hadn't poisoned him. How?

 

As he went the darkness went with him and Jared did his best to crawl from the scene unnoticed, which of course wasn't possible.

Soon a crowd had gathered and was taking pictures with their phones and cameras.

And Jared was praying that his disguise held up.

As he limped away people were patting him on the back, telling him "Next time you'll get him, three times the charm!" to which Jared would have loved to reply by vomiting on that person's shoes.

He just wasn't cut out to be a hero.

He made it into the women's restroom, barricaded the door and after making sure he was alone, threw his disguise away. Took off his pants and worked on removing a huge red stain right at his crotch.

So very big spatters of color did transfer when rolling around in them. Good to know.

He managed to get the most of it out, the rest of it easy to hide by pulling down his shirt.

Only he looked like he had peed his pants. Sigh.

He was just about to climb out the window when he remembered he hadn't come to the expo alone.

He still climbed out of the window.

He just climbed into the next window to the left, which led him to the wonderously deserted men's restroom.

Doing his best to disguise his limp he made his way outside and started looking for Felicia.

 

»Jared there you are!!!« Felicia was bouncing up and down, spotting him the second he came out of the restroom.

He could see she bit back a comment the second she noticed the wet spot on his jeans.

»So, uh, what were you doing in there?«, she asked, clearly out of politeness. She was just waiting to reveal her story.

»Hiding«, Jared replied, hissing when he put some more weight on his ankle. He had gotten enough exercise for a year at least. »I told you I don't like supers.«

»Well, you missed something.«

»Awesome. I am going home, slipped on that damn tiled floor, might have sprained my ankle.« He took another step.

»Ok.« She looked like she was considering something for a moment. Then she shook her head a little. »I- I am gonna stay, get a few more comments from witnesses, see if I can get someone to give me their pictures, you know?«

»Yeah, yeah, go ahead«, Jared hadn't expected her to give up her story for playing nurse.

»I'll be fine. Just gotta call Sheppard and tell him I'll take tomorrow off.«

»No, I'll do it for you, it's something I can do, I mean, I dragged you here«, Felicia hastily offered.

»Thanks.«

»Don't mention it. Get well soon«, she yelled after him as he slowly made his way outside.

»Sorry I am late«, Jensen mumbled when he entered the living room around ten pm.

»Fits with the day«, Jared replied.

He wasn't going to tell Jensen that he was quite glad he was late, because it allowed him to prepare his story in depth.

»Yours was as shitty as mine?«, Jensen asked, finally moving into Jared's field of vision.

He was holding one arm close to his body, hugging himself right around his middle.

Jared scooted on the couch to make space for his boyfriend, while keeping his swollen ankle on the coffee table as still as possible.

Jensen carefully sat down on the couch, drawing in a breath while sinking into the pillows. »What happened with your foot?«

»"Caution Wet Floor" sign was not really visible so I took a nose dive. Not because the floor was wet, because the sign was there. You?«

»Almost got mugged.«

»Jensen!« Jared wrapped him in his arms, making his boyfriend hiss in pain. He let go. »Sorry.«

»It's ok. Didn't give that asshole anything. But I took quite a beating. Went to the Doctor, apparently I have a few bruised ribs and I dislocated one, so no sex for a while. But apart from that nothing serious.«

That should have been Jared's second clue but the prospect of no assisted orgasms for some time occupied his brain.

»But we can cuddle?«

The way Jared carefully wrapped himself around his boyfriend was answer enough.

After a few moments he felt Jensen's breath ghost over his ear.

»One thing I've been wanting to ask«, he whispered, teeth grazing Jared's earlobe in the mockery of a bite. »Top or bottom?«

»Bottom«, Jared breathed. »You are really cruel to ask me that now!«

Jensen nuzzled into Jared's hair as he replied: »Consider it something to look forward to.«

 

The next day Jared hobbled into the kitchen to find Jensen sitting at their small table which was completely covered with newspaper.

His boyfriend was eating cereal while intently focused on one of the articles.

Jared had an idea what it might be about.

»Mornin'«, he yawned, looking for food not too far away to spare his ankle the strain.

Jensen grunted in response.

Jared found another bowl, some yoghurt and oatmeal and decided to just mix that.

»What has you so fascinated?«, he asked as he sat down.

»Hm?«

Well, that was an improvement, wasn't it?

Giving it another try then.

»What are you reading?«

»Oh... Uhm, you remember that news segment we saw a while ago about those supers in the department store?«

»Uhm, yeah«, Jared stirred his oatmeal.

»Well, seems like they went at it again, want me to read it to you? I mean you are mentioned in it...«

While internally screaming Jared shrugged. »Okay.« Better to know what the media had on him. And his opponent of course.

Jensen cleared his throat, ate another spoon of his cereal, put it aside and picked up the paper.

» _Superhero FanExpo gets a taste of the real thing by Felicia Day. Rock City Fan Expo, one of the bigger fan conventions in the country with approximately ten thousand attendees over the course of two days, offered their visitors a special treat, aside from stars like Jason Momoa (for interview see p. 28), John Barrowman or Marina Sirtis._

 _Renowned thief and super, the Viper,_ great name isn't it, _targeted the Expo. After being alerted to the supers presence by my coworker, Jared Padalecki, I had the chance to bear witness to the stunning skills of the Viper and the Peacock, who wonderously appeared at the scene._ Look, they even included a picture of the guy.«

Jensen turned the paper to show him a blurry picture of Jared lying in a pile of broken merchandise. He looked ridiculous in his disguise, but at least you couldn't make out his face or hair, which was worth looking like tool. Jared hummed appreciatively.

Jensen turned the paper back. »I don't know why they had to ruin all the Deadpool merch, couldn't they've broken like, I don't know, Aquaman's?«

»Aquaman is awesome!«, Jared huffed.

»Right, forgot you want to suck Jason Momoa's triton, as can be read on page 28«, Jensen smirked.

Jared put down his cereal, focusing all on Jensen. »Now why would I do that when I have a perfectly good dick right here? Oh wait...« He batted his eyelashes.

»Not fair!« Jensen laughed. »Now, shall I continue?«

»You may.« Jared returned to his cereal as Jensen read out the rest of the article.

 

Because of work Jensen didn't take Jared out until a week later, but that was alright with Jared.

In fact, they had missed the first night they could have gone out for dinner because they had been busy with other things that involved "eating out" that led to Jared shifting in his chair quite a bit the next day.

Anyway, they were now in one of the finer restaurants in town, seated outside at a small, cozy table with white table cloth, a candle and an ashtray.

Jensen looked fabulous in his button down and slacks and the glasses he wore at Jared's insistence. Jensen thought he looked dorky in them, but Jared had managed to convince him that that was not the case with the help of some unorthodox methods.

Right now he was wondering if he had made a mistake, because the picture of Jensen putting a cigarette between his lips and _sucking_ was a bit too much.

Jared looked away. He had been blushing pretty much since they arrived anyway.

Of course he looked back at Jensen within a few seconds, the picture was too good to pass up, even if evoked a string of inappropriate thoughts.

Jensen put out the cigarette, looking back at Jared with a serene expression.

Jared bit his lip.

Jensen sighed deeply: »I love you.«

Now a few things happened at once.

Jensen adapted the look of a deer caught in headlights, aerodynamics once more proved how they can work in wonderous ways and they got a special example of why smoking was bad.

Because Jared disappeared in a cloud of ash.

Damn the ashtray.

When he emerged again, coughing and sputtering, Jensen looked completely mortified.

Jared took pity. »It's okay, you can laugh.«

And Jensen did.

Loud and freely and so infectious that Jared couldn't help but join him.

It wasn't until they were halfway through their dinner that Jared, without looking up from cutting his steak, replied: »I love you too.«

Jensen let out a chuckle. »And here I was, thinking I said it too soon.«

»You did«, Jared replied. »I wanted to say it first.«

They didn't order dessert that night.

And Jared found out how delicious it could be to lick his favorite chocolate sauce off of Jensen's skin.

And sticky. It turned out to be delicious and very very sticky.

Jensen spent about two minutes in the shower trying to wash it off until Jared joined him.

It was that night that Jensen pulled Jared along into his room, flopped into bed and fell asleep holding Jared's hand while Jared tried to hold as much of Jensen in his arms as possible.

That wasn't the most comfortable position to sleep in and therefore Jared woke up at some point during the night with pins and needles in his arm.

As adorable as a sleeping Jensen might look, he was quite heavy.

Jared admired his boyfriend for a moment, the masculine lines of his face softened by the moonlight coming through the blinds, his long lashes throwing shadows on freckled cheeks.

Smiling Jared turned to his other side.

A second later Jensen's arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him against a strong chest.

»Know y're watchin m' sleep«, Jensen mumbled, words slurred and unfocused, before drifting off again.

 

Because of the whole thing with the expo Jared got delegated to deal with bigger stories. Like the opening of the Rock City Museum's art show in the newly restored wing, that he was attending right now.

The museum was gigantic, high ceilings and spacious halls, walls hung with paintings that could only be hung onto such walls, because they wouldn't fit anywhere else.

Knowing he still had a job to do Jared couldn't help but walk through the rooms and marvel at the art displayed.

Many of the paintings were from Europe, some a few hundred years old, on display thanks to the temporary exhibition in the museum that he was reporting about.

He stopped in front of one of the humongous paintings to take it in. Moving closer to it he started noticing more and more details, the fine lines of the brushes that had been drawn centuries ago so fine they were barely noticable.

It gave the picture a depth he hadn't seen before.

Taking a step back his heart stopped.

The golden frame of the painting was already swallowed by black.

Not again.

A siren sounded.

Sending a last look at the painting Jared made a choice.

Not intervening could mean the loss of one or two precious artworks.

Intervening and throwing around his colors could result in the loss of numerous priceless pieces, forever ruined by him.

Heart heavy Jared sat down.

The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.

There was a thud in the room beside him. A call for the Peacock.

He didn't move.

 

It was weird to not react while the Viper was there. He kept still, wondered why he was always there where the Viper was. Wondered what would happen if he wasn't.

Or if it was his brother instead of him. If he would have already caught him.

He felt a touch to his throat, brushing him while the Viper moved past him.

He reached out but the thief was already gone.

 

When he entered the apartment after being questioned by the cops for a solid two hours because even though they might have seemed incompetent they had noticed that this was the third time he had been found at one of the Viper's crime scenes, Jensen immediately pulled him into a hug.

»You look terrible, you wanna talk about it?«

Jared buried his face in the crook of Jensen's neck.

»Maybe. I don't know. First I need food.«

»I think I got that covered«, Jensen smiled.

 

Jared spilled the beans over the table. Quite literally.

They spent a few moments collecting them and putting them back into the bowl during which he spilled them figuratively.

»I was at the museum today. And so was the Viper. And the police kept me for questioning because they think that it might be me. Because I was there the last three times something happened.«

Jensen's reaction to this statement should have been Jared's third clue, but he just thought of it as his boyfriend being worried about him.

Which was also true, of course.

»You were there for three? Not just the one at the expo?«

Jared nodded. The potatoes on the stove boiled over.

Jensen cursed and jumped to tame the evolving chaos. After getting it under control he returned his focus to Jared.

»Wait a second, is that how you injured yourself?«

»Yup.« Jared ran his hands through his hair.

Jensen grabbed the pan with their steaks before those could burn to charcoal. »Why didn't you tell me?«

»I didn't wanna worry you.« Which was also, technically, true. Jared set the plates down on the table.

When he looked up Jensen stood so close their noses almost brushed. »You dork. I am always worried about you. Especially thinking you are so clumsy you could injure yourself just sitting down.« He dropped a kiss to the tip of Jared's nose. »You should have told me. «

»Sorry«, Jared mumbled.

»You damn well should be. If you want to talk about it, my ears are always open.«

Jared smiled. »Thanks.«

 

»What are you doing?«, Jensen asked incredulously as he watched Jared tap his knuckles on grapefruit after grapfruit.

»You can hear how ripe they are«, his boyfriend explained. He held one of the grapefruits to Jensen's ear.

»Listen.«

The tap was soft against the grapefruit. Jensen looked at Jared questioningly.

»And now this.«

Another grapefruit, another tap.

»Sounds different, doesn't it.«

»If you say so.«

»I do. We are taking this one.« Jared put the second grapefruit in their cart, smiling at an older lady who was not so subtly staring at them.

 

At the checkout his gaze fell onto the newspaper. The giant headline reading: "Viper strikes again - The Peacock MIA?" Before he could read further he was distracted by Jensen presenting him with various chocolate bars, asking which one he would like.

In the end they put all three in the cart.

 

Being an open minded and adventurous couple was a lot of fun, but also led to things like this:

»WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE KEYS ARE GONE?«

Jared did his absolute best not to panic, which proved to be difficult since he was naked and handcuffed to the headboard.

The previous activities had been fun, don't get him wrong, but that didn't mean he wanted to spend the rest of his life tied to the headboard.

»They were here, on the nighstand, where I put them and now they are not on the nightstand, not on the ground or anywhere near this bed.«

Jared could see that Jensen was getting nervous too.

»But they gotta be there! They can't just be gone!«

»I know!«

Then Jensen looked up. »Oh fuck. Jay, don't move, ok?«

»I can't! That's the point!« This time there had definitely been a light squeaking in his voice.

»I mean it. Don't move.«

Jensen had almost completely stilled, leaning forward ever so slightly.

Jared followed Jensen's eyeline, groaning when he saw what caught his boyfriend's attention.

»Oh no. Jensen, uhm, maybe, carefully rub him under the chin and he might drop them.«

»Might?«

Jared nodded, squeezing his eyes closed.

»Ok.« Jensen took a deep breath and slowly moved forward, Muffin taking an equally slow step away.

 

He finally managed to pet the stubborn chameleon, but only after half crawling across the bed.

Meanwhile Jared was getting well acquainted Jensen's bellybutton, as he was hovering above his face.

Then Jensen exclaimed: »Victory!«

Followed by a wet smack, an "Ow!" and something that sounded like Muffin was cackling. Which was of course impossible. But still.

The bellybutton moved out of Jared's vision and was replaced with Jensen's face.

While clutching the keys in one hand Jensen was covering his right eye with the other.

Grumbled: »Your bastard chameleon tongue punched me in the eye.«

Jared couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up in his chest.

 

Of course it was this moment that the doorbell rang.

»Don't you dare answer it before unlocking me!«

»Never.« Jensen dropped a quick kiss to his lips as he twisted the key in the lock of the handcuffs.

There was a metallic clink and they froze.

The door bell rang again.

»Jensen, please tell me that wasn't the key breaking off in the lock.«

Jared felt like he was in a bad movie.

»Sorry?«, Jensen bit his lip. »Let me just go get the door, tell that person to leave and get something to get these«, he gave the handcuffs a tug, »off of you.«

Jared had no other choice but to let his head fall back to the pillow and watch his boyfriend pull on a shirt and some sweatpants as the bell rang for the third time.

There was voices when Jensen pulled open the door.

A loud laugh.

After waiting for a solid few minutes, at least it felt like it, could have also been just one, Jared sighed.

He hadn't planned on doing this, but what the hell. So much in his life hadn't gone according to plan and he didn't want to spend the rest of the evening tied to the headboard.

Even if he didn't spend a lot of time at the gym, he still was a super.

A moment of concentration, grabbing the chains of the cuffs, a sharp pull and the sound of wood splintering.

He wasn't exactly free now, but free-er than before.

He sat up the second Jensen stormed into the bedroom followed by a stocky guy with long hair that was put up in a bun.

Jared instinctively covered himself with the blanket.

»Jay, what the hell happened?«

Jensen's gaze was fixed on the broken wood spread out on the pillow. Muffin tapped his paw against one of the splinters.

»You killed our headboard!«

He seemed a bit heartbroken. And stressed out. The change from the caring and relaxed boyfriend he had been only moments ago to a person on edge palpable.

»Sorry«, Jared replied, picking up his chameleon with his still bound hands, doing his best not to stare at the guy standing in their bedroom looking like a persian cat that went a week without proper cuddles.

»No, it's fine, I mean, yeah, sorry.« Jensen pinched the bridge of his nose. »Jared, this is Chris, we went to school together, he just invited himself in, Chris, this is Jared, my boyfriend, and now we will leave so he can get dressed.«

»Nice to meet you«, Jared rattled the chains. Chris nodded.

»You leave, I'll be with you in a second«, Jensen corrected, pushing him out the door.

»Just... go sit on the couch. Don't roam around!«

Jensen rubbed a hand over his face, muttering into his palm for a second.

He sighed. »I am sorry for dumping this on you. I didn't know he was coming. Now, uh, let me help you get out of those. How did you even manage to break that?«

»Honestly? I don't know. Adrenaline?«

»This is so not how I imagined this evening going«, Jensen pulled out a screw driver from his pocket and did his best to pry open the cuffs.

»Hey«, Jared gently put his palm against Jensen's cheek, causing his boyfriend to drop his hands and close his eyes, leaning into the touch. Something was wrong. But now was not the time to dwell on it.

»Me neither. But I am not mad. I love you. Everything will be fine. Breathe.«

»What would I do without you?«

Jared smiled. »Crash and burn.«

Jensen huffed.

 

»So, Chris, what's up?«, Jared asked once he was dressed and cuff free in the living room.

Chris regarded him for a moment before turning his attention to Jensen.

»You ok with him hearing this?«

Jensen's gaze didn't waver as he answered: »He is my boyfriend. So yes, I am.«

Jared picked up a cookie to keep himself busy or else the awkward stiltedness of the conversation was going to kill him.

Chris shrugged. »Fine. Your call. Hey, can I get a cookie too?«

Jared pushed the box towards him.

»What is your stance on supers?«, Chris asked as he picked up a cookie.

Now it was Jared's turn to shrug. »I've got Chad.« Jensen snorted and Chris simply looked confused.

Meanwhile Jared mentally noted that he should really talk to Jensen about being a super. Maybe he should come clean about being the Peacock as well.

Now was not the moment though.

»Stop interrogating my boyfriend and get to the point Chris.«

Even when he sounded slightly pissed while saying it, Jared would never get tired of hearing Jensen call him his boyfriend. Only thing better would be "Husband".

Ok, now that came out of nowhere.

Jared shook his head to return his attention to the conversation at hand.

»Geez, just wanted to know if he was one of these intolerant assholes, calm down Jensen.«

Jensen sent Chris a look as if he was trying to say "Do you really think I would be together with someone like that?".

»Ok, ok«, Chris held up his hands in a placating gesture.

»I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm frigiokinetic. And here to borrow your laptop.«

Jared jumped at the opportunity to be helpful: »Oh, I'm sorry, I need mine for work, but maybe we can work something out-«

»He means mine, Jay«, Jensen interrupted, arms crossed over his chest in the same way Chris had. »And I am sorry too, but mine is broken.«

He shot Jared a look before he could let it slip that Jensen's laptop was perfectly fine, as they had only used it that morning to buy some... stuff... for fun.

Jared had the distinct feeling he was missing something important in the conversation.

»That is a shame«, Chris replied. »Then I will see myself out. Drop me a line when it works again.«

»I was thinking of buying a new one.«

Chris nodded. »I see. Well, good luck then.«

 

»What was all that about?«, Jared immediately asked as the door closed with a snick.

»I got some explaining to do, don't I?«

»You don't have to, but I'd appreciate if you did.«

Jensen gently caressed his cheek. »You are amazing, you know that? Far better than I deserve.«

»I am already your boyfriend, you don't need to flatter me, even though I quite like it«, Jared smiled. It didn't really reach his eyes.

»Would you be ok with having this talk in the kitchen? I think I need to cook.«

 

Jensen ended up baking grapefruit cupcakes with Jared sitting at their little table, stealing tiny bits of frosting every now and then while listenig to his boyfriend.

»Like I said, Chris and I went to school together. Which was when he figured out that I am good with computers. So every once in a while, especially during college when we were a little low on money we would... you know... go for a little shopping spree without paying. He wanted my laptop, meaning he wanted my help for some job. Have you heard of Frezzio and Flower Power?«

Jared nodded. They had been in the news a few times for robbing some stores and a bank.

»That's him and another 'friend' from college, Mike Rosenbaum. I don't see them often, but sometimes we still hangout. But I haven't been part of one of their 'excursions' for three years now.«

Jensen sat down a cupcake in front of Jared.

»I get it if you wanna break up.«

If Jared hadn't been occupied with his own feelings of guilt, he would have put two and two together by now.

He didn't.

Instead he took the cupcake.

»And give up these? Nah, I don't think so«, he winked.

Jensen huffed. »I mean it.« Jared didn't hear how he quietly added: »I'm poison.«

»Look, we are both people with pasts. I fell in love with the person you are now. I don't care who you were, well, as long as you didn't kill anyone, I just care who you are. Can we leave it at that?«

Jensen regarded him with an unreadable expression for a few seconds. Then he responded: »I'm fine with that.«

He didn't ask about Jared's past.

Muffin's tongue shot out from where he was sitting on Jared's shoulder and landed right in the frosting.

Jared yelped.

 

The next days were weird. Their mutual confessions, or lack thereof, had changed the atmosphere.

They both didn't want to acknowledge it, but there was a shadow looming in the background, waiting to pounce. His own guilt about not coming clean himself weighing on his conscience.

He had been honest with Jensen about one thing at least.

He loved the person he was now and didn't care about the past. As long as it was the past.

He spent a night or so awake though, wondering if Jensen was a super, wondering about what he might have done, what heists he helped plan and execute.

The idea of Jensen being the Viper crossed his mind but was discarded a moment later in favor of the picture of Jensen in his glasses, hunched over his laptop, directing Frezzio and Flower Power through a maze of laser beams.

And seriously, by now Jared kind of appreciated his superhero name.

Back when they had just stumbled onto the scene and it wasn't clear if they were vigilante or villain, the duo had been named ambiguously by the media.

Frezzio was actually kind of a cool name, fitting someone who could freeze thin air.

But Flower Power?

That was all because the guy could grow huge flowers and the reporter writing the article on them had not a single clue about botany, thus not having the capabilities of coming up with a cool name.

Jared groaned as he remembered he was supposed to report on the cacti congress and exhibition in a few hours.

 

A good thing to come out of the whole ordeal though was that Jensen was constantly making the most delicious foods.

Mostly cakes, muffins and cupcakes.

Because as Jared learned, Jensen liked to cook when he was happy and bake when he was stressed.

It wasn't mutually exclusive, but a noticeable trend.

Not that he was complaining.

His apple pie was to die for.

And Jared wanted to give him something nice back.

 

He was just about to gently lower himself onto the butt plug he had carefully positioned on the toilet lid when he heard Jensen's voice singsong: »Honey, I'm home.«

Shit.

He hadn't been supposed to come back for at least another twenty minutes, which was why Jared had thought he could finally surprise his boyfriend.

The plan had been to put in the plug and sometime after dinner push Jensen onto his bed, or couch, floor, table, he wasn't picky, present him with the surprise and get his ass pounded like there was no tomorrow. He was horny. With a possibly bit unhealthy sexdrive. So what?

Jensen's early arrival changed things though.

Because it took some time to work the plug in. It was a big plug after all.

And if he spent that time in the bathroom, Jensen would get worried. And come look for him.

In a moment of panic Jared decided to abort the mission.

»Hi, you're early«, he yelled back while trying to get a hold of the fully lubed up and thus slippery plug.

Thanks to the suction cup at the bottom of the stem, which had seemed practical only a few moments ago, it was now stuck to the toilet lid which clanked down loudly when Jared finally managed to pull it off.

The plug, not the lid.

The force he had put behind it made him stumble backwards and the slick plug slipped from his grasp.

»Are you ok?«, Jensen's voice was coming closer.

»Yeah, no, fine, don't worry, just dropped the soap.«

Jared frantically tried to catch the plug, getting lube all over the bathroom in the process.

Finally holding the object in his hand Jared turned around to survey the damage done to the bathroom.

Nothing drastic had happened, he would just have to buy a new soap dispenser, toilet brush and three shells.

He laughed at that.

He had to buy three new shells after going all demolition man on the bathroom.

The laughter turned into a cough once he noticed Jensen standing in the door frame, eyebrows nearly in his hairline.

»What the heck are you doing?«

»Uhm«, Jared looked from the plug tightly clutched in his fist to the mess of the bathroom back to his boyfriend.

»Surprise?«

 

It started as a little shudder as Jensen tried to hold it back but grew into a full body unicorn laugh, as Jared liked to call them, within a few seconds.

After calming back down a smile stayed on his face as he stepped over the broken porcelain of the soap dispenser until he was almost chest to chest with Jared.

»Not exactly the type of surprise I might have expected but that's ok. How about we clean you up?«

»And the bathroom«, Jared added. The lube in his hand had turned sticky by now.

»Later.« Jensen trailed a finger tip down Jared's chest to his navel. »First, you.«

Jared swallowed. »I'm fine with that.«

»Perfect.«

 

Jared kept squirming on his chair. The plug was pressing into all the right places, namely his prostate and Jensen the bastard was slowly, teasingly eating his spaghetti.

Ok, maybe he was eating normally, but to Jared everything was teasing right now.

Jensen had climbed into the shower with him, taken the plug from Jared's grasp and, after cleaning every single inch of his skin, worked it in, never once touching Jared's cock which was leaking like crazy by the end of it.

And then he had dried him off, making sure to rub the rougher side of the towel over Jared's nipples and made him clean up the bathroom.

With the plug still in his ass.

While Jensen made dinner.

Which was what they were having right now.

Jensen smirked.

 

After the whole incident with the buttplug Jared found himself at IKEA three days later to buy replacements for the soap dispenser, toilet brush and shells that had broken during his endeavour in the bathroom as well as for the desk lamp, the bowl and two pillows who had lost their lives during the following sexcapade.

All in all the sex was worth the dollars he was going to spend on the new things. Very very worth it.  
He hadn't been able to sit for a day, which wasn't bad, given he and Jensen hadn't really left the bed. And couch. And table.

Now he was making his way through the labyrinth that was the giant IKEA store near their home, when something all too familiar caught his eye.

Shadows near the mattress section that weren't supposed to be there.

Jared sighed.

Not again.

Why was it always his luck.

And why in the name of sanity did the Viper try to rob an IKEA.

Actually, he didn't care.

He put down the stuff he had already picked out as safely as he could, repositioned his beanie and threw the first splash.

Jackpot.

Turquoise molded itself to the hip of the Viper who was just on his way through the aisles between the beds. In a throw of heroism Jared leapt, putting all his strength and weight into the tackle.

Together they bounced onto one of the matresses with a thud, the Viper enunciating "Fuck" as the air was pushed out of his lungs.

This time Jared had gotten him good, with a strong grip around a waist that felt oddly familiar.

A hand gripped his throat lightly.

Jared took hold of the Viper's wrist, doing his best to pull the hand away from him.

»Why won't you just pass the fuck out?«

The voice was gruff and pissed and Jared froze.

»Jensen?«

»Jay?«

They both cursed.

Or well, Jensen cursed, quite colorful actually, as Jared's mind signaled that the best way to deal with the absurdity of the whole situation was by shaking his whole body with laughter.

He couldn't help it, couldn't help the sounds bubbling up in his chest. He felt Jensen tense under him, biting out a quiet 'fuck' before relaxing the tiniest fraction, a fraction so minute Jensen wouldn't have felt it if he hadn't been pressed to Jensen from head to toe. Apparently his laughter still had a positive effect on Jensen.  
Jared felt close to going into hysterics as he slowely realized how messed up the whole situation was.

That was when they heard the thud of thick boots hitting the ground as security personnel slowly made their way towards them.

The laughter got stuck in Jared's throat.

»Shit, what are we going to do?«, Jensen hissed.

»I love how you think about what 'we' are gonna do«, Jared quipped.

»Really, you are breaking up with me now?«

»Nope«, Jared pushed himself up. »But we will need to talk about this.«

»Got that. Now, plan?«

»Make it for the door and run.«

»Which door?« Jensen got up as well, keeping a hand on Jared's arm.

»There's gotta be an exit somewhere.«

The voices of the guards came closer accompanied by the thud of boots.

»Found it. Let's go«, Jensen grabbed Jared's hand and pulled him along.

Jared was about to throw some more color, since he was pretty much flying blind.

He was stopped by Jensen whispering: »Don't. I can see the way. Trust me. Please.«

He didn't throw any more color.

 

They made it outside, darkness enveloping them and spilling onto the emergency fire escape like ink spreading in water.

For a second Jared could make out police cars on the parking lot that had encircled the building.

Then everything got swallowed by black.

He stumbled along the way, Jensen's hand the only thing guiding him.

Somehow they ended up in a truck that was parked a few streets over.

The keys were in the ignition, but Jensen didn't start the engine.

They just sat in silence for a while.

 

»Why did you do it?«, Jared asked.

Jensen looked at his hands in his lap as he replied. »I'm sorry, I don't have an excuse.«

»I am not asking for an excuse, I am asking for an explanation.«

»I'm good at it? It's fun? And I needed the money.«

Jensen finally looked at Jared.

All confidence he was used to from his boyfriend was gone, replaced by insecurity and even fear.

Jared bit his lip. »Ok. So you lied to me back when Chris visited?«

Jensen shook his head. »I may have omitted some parts of the truth, but... I was telling the truth when I told you that I wasn't pulling tricks with Chris and Mike anymore. I've been running solo for the past few missions.«

Jared nodded to himself, turning to intently watch his knees.

»I mean, come on, with a power like mine, it's like I am meant to be the 'bad guy'.« The laugh that followed was hollow. »I am literally poison and darkness personified.«

»You really believe that?«

»I don't actually know. It was the argument Chris always used. And then, damn that sounds so cliche, but then I met you. And I thought, hey, here is someone so pure, so amazing, I would do anything for them. I want to give you the world. I just ended up hurting you more.«

»I'd like to think I gave back as good as I got«, Jared muttered.

»That is so not the point and you know it.«

They were quiet for another moment.

»Why did you do it? This last job, I mean, you said you were done, I thought you would be.«

»Like I said. I wanted to give you the world.«

Jared looked at Jensen, signaling he expected more as an answer.

»I wanted to buy you a ring. I know it would be way too soon, but I wanted to.«

»Why, you know I am not really a jewellery type of g-oh my god!«

»Yup. I should be happy I got busted, right? No way I need to buy that ring now.«

Jared turned in his seat so he could fully face Jensen. »You know what? You kicking my sprained ankle hurt less than this.«

»I know and I am sorry.«

»No, I don't think you do. You wanted to buy me a ring but have so little faith in our relationship that you don't believe it will survive this little hiccup?«

Jensen blinked. »What?!«

»Oh you heard me.«

Another blink. »You call this a little hiccup?«

»Yes I am pissed, but I don't know which I am more pissed about. That my boyfriend is a criminal or that he thinks I will just break up with him after finding out about it. Probably the latter.«

»Ok, something is so not right in your head.«

»Who cares? So what. I don't.«

Jensen just shook his head before catching Jared's lips in a fierce kiss.

When they broke apart Jared fixed him with a serious expression. »Don't think we won't talk about this more. I am not happy. But I love you and I don't wanna lose that.«

»Understood.«

Jensen smiled as he turned the keys in the ignition and started the car.

 

The next day Jared called his sister to ask her if he could bring a plus one. She squealed and agreed.

Over dinner Jared asked a question that had bugged him for the past twenty four hours.

»Why IKEA? I mean, I get the museum and the expo and stuff, but why the hell would you try to rob an IKEA?«

»Uhm«, Jensen pushed a bean back into his taco. »Apparently there is a guy who is a) filthy rich and b) a 'fan of my work'. Which means he was willing to pay me an ungodly sum of money for stealing something ordinary like one of those cheap prints they have at IKEA that are worth less than the frame they're in. That picture would gain value because of how and who it was stolen by, according to him. So I was supposed to steal one of those.«

Jared snorted so hard bits of taco flew across the whole table.

»I mean it, I can show you his emails if you want me to«, Jensen supplied, picking tiny taco bits off his shirt.

»Nah, I believe you«, Jared replied. »Wait, you didn't get to steal that picture though, so what happens now?«

Jensen smirked. »I got him something better.«

He pushed the current newspaper towards Jared.

"Viper inexplicably steals toilet brush in latest heist- Peacock accomplice?"

»Awesome«, Jared muttered.

»Jay«, Jensen reached out and put his hand over Jared's. »This was the last job, I promise.«

Jared nodded. »I believe you.«

»Thank you.« A pause. »Now eat the rest of your taco and don't spit it across the table.«

»Oh, bossy much?«

»You love it when I get bossy.«

»True.«

 

Jared sat on the couch, absentmindedly fiddling with a redvine. Coming to a decision he got up and went into the kitchen where Jensen was preparing tortellini.

He leaned against the counter. »I need to talk.«

»Figured you'd come to your senses eventually.« Jensen didn't look at him as folded the dough around a spoonful of ricotta. »Don't worry, I'll help you find a flat.«

»Sometimes you are insufferable, you know that?«

Jensen shrugged.

»Why do you always think I want to break up with you the second we hit a bump in the road? Just because I need to talk doesn't mean it has to be 'the talk'. God!«

Finally Jensen turned towards him. »Maybe it's because you are the best thing to ever happen to me and I have done everything humanly possible to ruin it and yet you. Are still. Here. Acting like it's no big deal. Like it doesn't matter. And I don't know why. Because I sure as hell don't deserve it.«

Jared waited a moment to make sure Jensen was done.

»You done?«

Jensen shrugged again, turning his attention back to the tortellini.

»Good. Thank you. Now, where was I?« He paused. »Right... This is messed up. And if I was a sane person I would have broken up with you the second I found out. And yes, I am hurt and yes, this whole ordeal has fucked up my trust in you, in our relationship. Sometimes I catch myself wondering if you are really done or if some job will come along too good for you to pass up and you will go behind my back again. And it scares me. And I hate it. But I hate the idea of cutting you out of my life more. So maybe I need some time, to trust you again like I did before, but you are not the only one who kept secrets. I mean, I lied to you too. I broke your trust. And now you are beating yourself up, putting me on this pedestal even though we both did some questionable things. Like... Maybe we both should have opened our mouths sooner and this wouldn't have happened. But we didn't and so we got into this mess and we gotta deal with it. And that's the point. I want to deal with this and not just walk away because it's easier. So... uhm... Yeah.«

He looked at Jensen who pretty much stopped moving all together.

»We have a deal? No more immediately thinking I want to break up with you whenever I open my mouth and more working on getting back onto the same page?«

Jensen took a second to nod. »Yeah. I'm gonna try that. Guess I am just not used to people wanting to stick around.«

»Great. Now finish cutting those onions so we can eat.«

»I am not cutt-«

»When your boyfriend offers you an easy way out on why you are teary eyed you should take it«, Jared winked.

»Maybe I don't want it?« Jensen gave him a half smile and drew him into a quick kiss.

»Besides, I stopped feeding you onions and beans ever since you nearly exploded after eating my chili con carne.«

Jared laughed.

 

 

Jared had managed to avoid Felicia a whopping three times that day already, but his luck was meant to run out at some point.

»Jared.« She was smiling.

Possibly not good.

»Hey Felicia, I'm really sorry, but I-«

»Don't worry, this will only take a minute.«

Wearily gave her his full attention.

»Ok, so, it will be all over the news tomorrow, but I thought you might like to hear it first-«

His phone buzzed. Jared held up a finger, stopping Felicia mid sentence and checking his messages.

_I wanna take you out on a date tonight. Does 7pm sound ok? X, J_

Jared smiled, but chose not to reply instantly, instead pocketing his phone and turning back to Felicia, who looked like she might explode if she didn't get to tell her story.

»Sorry, please continue.«

»The Viper sent us an email.«

»He did?« Jared's voice went up a pitch.

»It's been sent from a burner adress that's bouncing off several servers so we can't track him, but! He claims IKEA was his last job, that he's not going to do anything more.«

She leaned in closer, almost whispering into the space between them.

»He says he wrote about a bank locker filled with cash as an apology. It's not everything he stole, but almost all of it. Can you believe it? Police is checking it out right now to see if it is a scam or legit!«

Jared stood there frozen.

»Jared?«

»Excuse me«, he finally muttered, pulling out his phone again, quickly typing down his response of "Hell yes" to Jensen while faintly hearing Felicia's "This is so not the reaction I expected".

»So, what do you think?«, she pressed as he hit send.

»Uhm... I don't know, good for him?«

»Unbelievable. I had imagined you would be a bit more, I don't know, invested in this, given you were there during some of his attacks and all«, Felicia shrugged. Uhoh, she was getting pissed.

»I'm sorry, it's«, he tried to look both apologetic and empathetic at the same time. »Family emergency?«

»That makes you smile like a lunatic?«

»Ok, maybe not emergency, more of celebration. My sister is going to join the military.« ~~~~

»You already told me that last week.« She crossed her arms. »Jared, I get it, you don't have any interest in what I have to say, just please have the decency to tell me and not make up shitty excuses.«

She tapped her foot once, obviously waiting for a reply.

»Yes. I won't. I am sorry. I am a bit distracted, it has been a weird week.«

»That's ok«, Felicia said, uncrossing her arms. One corner of her mouth curved up in the hint of a smile. »Take care, don't forget about the book fair you are supposed to write about tomorrow.«

»I won't«, he said as he watched her walk away. »Thanks.«

He looked back at his phone.

_When should I come pick you up?_

He chuckled, typing: _We live 2gether, moron._

 

»And damn, the UST between Star Lord and Gamora is killing me! So good!«

Jared was so entirely caught up in reviewing the movie they had just seen that he completely missed that they weren't driving home.

»And Rocket! That CGI! Well, weta digital worked on the movie, so of course it has some quality. And Baby Groot! Have you noticed the tiny pieces of bark they gave him as buttcheeks? He is so adorable, I want one.«

Jensen listened to his boyfriend excitedly ramble about while his heart picked up the pace.

»And the costumes were amazing, as always. You know what? I think we should start cosplaying. I think I'd make a decent Gamora and you could be Star Lord.«

That statement made Jensen almost slam the brakes. »What?«

»So you are listening to me.«

»Oh come on, of course I am. It's just that I also need to focus on the road a bit.«

»Fine.« Jared looked out the window. »Wait a second, where are we?«

»The only place in the city that I know of that has one of these.«

Jensen pulled into a parking spot, jumped out the car and ran around so he could open the door for Jared.

»This the only place in town where you found a place to park?«

»Nope. I meant this.«

He pointed at a chewing gum dispenser mounted on the wall. It was one of the older ones, where you could get both candy and cheap plastic toys.

»You're pulling a Deadpool on me?«

»Come on, you love that movie.«

»True.« Jared leaned down for a kiss. Jensen happily gave it to him.

»'sides. It's the only kind of ring I can afford right now.« He shrugged.

»I know.«

»You do?«

»Felicia told me about your email.«

»Huh.«

It took them four tries to get a ring out of the dispenser.

So in the end Jensen proposed with a ring, two little plastic aliens and a tiny slinky.

Jared graciously accepted all of them.

 

 

A few days later, while they watched TV, Jensen had an epiphany.

»Oh God«, he mumbled.

»What is it?« Jared lifted his head from where he had been resting on Jensen's lap.

»I think I figured out why you are immune to my venom.«

Jared sat up. »Pray tell.«

»You know how you can build up restistance against certain substances by taking it in small dosages over time. I think that's what happened with you.«

It took Jared a second to catch up.

»WAIT! You mean I am immune because I swallowed your come?«

His voice went up at the last words.

»It's possible.«

Jared disbelievingly shook his head. »What the hell has happened to my once normal life?«

»I'd like to imagine you were never normal.« Jensen nuzzled his hair. »Always someone special. And the immunity is nothing but a nice side effect of a pleasurable activity.«

Jared hit Jensen with a pillow for that comment.

Jensen laughed.

It was this moment that Jared liked to think they returned to their old, easy going relationship.

It was also the sixth time they had sex on the couch while Bill O'Reily was on TV due to an exceptionally powerful thrust of Jensen's hips that caused Jared's ass to press against the remote, a detail he remembered but didn't want to remember.

It was after that that they agreed to always find a second to turn off the TV before having sex.

 

 

Jordan's party came quicker than expected and on the way there they joined the mile high club. As well as whatever the club was called for doing it on a train. The rail road club?

They weren't planning on doing either again, because of several factors. One of which being that those toilets were just too damn small for two men of their size.

They arrived at the Padalecki house on time though, despite a concierge at the hotel who didn't understand that they wanted one and not two beds until Jensen had not so nicely grabbed him by the tie and had a little chat with him.

The sun had already disappeared as they made it into the garden, which was full with people Jared didn't know, presumably his sister's friends and classmates, with a few familiar faces sprinkled in between.

Lanterns were strung into the tree that proudly dominated the space in the middle of the yard and there were tables laden with snacks on the far side of it.

It actually looked like the whole thing could be fun.

»I am so glad you made it!«

His little sister attached herself to Jared's neck, her ponytail brushing his nose and nearly making him sneeze. After squeezing her tightly he set her back down and her gaze fell on Jensen, who was awkwardly standing half behind his boyfr-fiancé.

»You must be Jensen, I heard so much about you!«

Jensen looked like he was ready to bolt. »Only good things I hope.«

Jared took his hand as his sister shook her head.

»Nah, the whole thing with giving my brother a black eye and all, wouldn't say that was good...«

At this point Jensen looked completely mortified.

Jordan playfully punched him in the arm. »Just kidding, we're cool.«

Jared smirked when he recognized the baseline blasting from the giant speakers that were put up in the garden.

Back to black.

His kid sister thinking she was sneaky.

»Good to know«, Jensen replied. He was clearly still weirded out by Jordan.  
Jared could understand.

He would be too if he hadn't grown up with her. She was a whirlwind. If he was honest, Jared had a few doubts about how well she would cope with all the rules and regulations of the army. She had always been a troublemaker and he wasn't sure that her dimples could get her out of breaking the rules in the army.

They probably could.

They were much more effective than his and his were pretty decent.

Better than decent when directed at Jensen.

But Jensen had his glasses and his long lashes and his pouty lips, so it was only fair for Jared to have killer dimples.

»Let's get something to eat«, he pulled himself out of his thoughts and took Jensen's hand, leading him towards the tables as Jordan bounced off to greet someone else.

»So do you know any of these people?«, Jensen asked while inspecting the food with a critical eye. Jared reminded himself not to let Jensen watch so much Gordon Ramsay.

He looked around.

»Not many. There is uhm, Bob over there.« He pointed towards a guy who looked completely out of place with his perfectly parted hair, pressed slacks and pornstache. »We were at the same kindergarten, haven't seen him in ages, right beside him is my sixth grade teacher Mrs. Ferris.«

Jensen dropped the little sausage he had been looking at back on the plate it came from in favor of following Jared's line of sight.

»Then there is Clarice over there, we went on one date back in junior year of high school and since then she won't talk to me and over there is- oh god no.«

»Jay-Dog!«

»Hi, Chad.« Jared sounded as enthusiastic as a kid finding out it would get broccoli on its pizza as Chad slung an arm around his neck.

Jensen snickered. »Nice to meet you, Mayhem. I'm Jensen.«

»Please, don't encourage him«, Jared pleaded from Chad's armpit.

Chad let him go.

»No, please do. Nice to meet you, Jensen. According to Jared you have got a phenomenal dick, but to be honest he doesn't have a lot of dicks to compare it to.«

Jared choked on the lemonade he had been wanting to swallow and Jensen gently hit him on the back.

»Uh, thanks, I guess?«

»Any time, he won't stop talking about it, it's actually quite tiring.«

Jared wheezed.

He was spared further conversation by the grand entrance made by his brother.

For a moment he wished that the conversation had continued and his brother hadn't shown up.

From the frying pan into the fire, so to speak.

Clarice squealed at the sight of Jake Padalecki, superhero extraordinare, standing on the porch, flexing his muscles and posing like a model. Show off.

Jared looked around to search for his sister.

Sure enough she was rolling her eyes while Jake basked in the attention.

»And that's my brother«, Jared explained with a low voice.

»I see«, Jensen replied as Chad bounced off to greet Jared's brother, who, in turn, didn't even spare him a glance. »Want me to give him just a tiny, tiny injection?«

Jared shook his head. As fun as it may be, not at his sister's farewell party.

»Just a little, non lethal one that would make him stop doing _that_?«

Jared watched as his brother held his nose so high Jared thought he could tickle the clouds with it.

»What effect would it have on him?«

»Nothing serious«, Jensen replied. »Just paralyze him minimally and make him look like a flopping fish.«

Jared bit his lip. »How long would it take to show effects?«

»Long enough to not have people connect it to me, a few minutes, I guess.«

Jared looked over to Jordan who looked more annoyed and disappointed with every passing second.

»Go for it.«

Jensen smiled. »Gladly.«

 

Jared watched as Jensen approached his brother.

Heard him say: »Hello, I'm Jensen, I heard so much about you, how does it feel to be so amazing?«

Watched him shake his brother's hand. Nod his head to what his brother was saying and interrupting with: »I was just being polite, to be honest I don't really care.«

And leave to join Jordan by the tree.

Jared bit back a laugh.

He wandered over to join his fiancé and sister, catching his mother coming out onto the porch, most likely to gush about her oldest child.

»I just told Jordan about what to expect«, Jensen informed him when he reached them. »She approves.«

»Oh yes she does«, Jordan quipped, nudging Jensen with her elbow.

Jared took a look at the two. Two of the people he loved most.

»By the way«, Jordan's voice interrupted his musings. »Where is Muffin? Is someone taking care of him while you are away?«

»Kind of«, Jared laughed. His hand went to the pouch in the front of his sweater. His movements grew frantic when his beloved chameleon wasn't there.

»He crawled into the hood on our way here«, Jensen sighed, pulling out Muffin from said hood.

The animal slowly opened one eye, clearly displeased to be woken up.

»He is so adorable«, Jordan cooed. »Can I hold him.«

Jared shrugged. »Sure.«

Jensen handed her the chameleon. Muffin grumbled at the betrayal but the sound soon changed into a purr as she gently stroked over his head.

There was a thud and a high pitched "Aaaaaaaah" that called for their attention.

Jake now lay in the grass, twitching and making unintelligible sounds, distinctively looking like a fish out of water.

»Wanna bet he is going to use his powers trying to stand up?«, Jared asked.

»Bet it won't work?«, Jensen added.

»Bet it will look ridiculous? Where's my phone, I need to take pictures.« Jordan handed Muffin back to Jensen.

Sure enough Jake was floating in the air a few seconds later, making for a picture Jared wanted to frame.

»He will be able to move normally soon, like half an hour. Though the twitch in his eye might stay a little longer«, Jensen casually noted.

Jared cocked his head. »Then I won't feel bad for laughing.«

»Good.«

There was a wet smack.

»Urgh, Muffin! GET YOUR TONGUE OUT OF MY EAR!«

Jared burst out in a boisterous laugh as he watched his boyfriend pull on the chameleon's long tongue.

Some things may never change.

Like his pet's distaste for his fiancé.

Jordan's voice right at his ear made Jared jump.

»Just wanted to tell you, I got both on tape. Our bro and handsome over here.«

She winked and went over to their brother, who was still floating about, giving him a not so gentle nudge and watching him stare at her madly as he drifted away.

Jensen finally managed to free himself of the tongue and held Muffin out towards Jared.

»Take him from me. Please!«

»Was the man evil again?«, Jared wrapped his hand around the little creature. Muffin squinted as if to say "Careful or you are next".

»Haha, you know he hates me.«

»No, he doesn't. He just has peculiar way of showing... love.« Jared put him back into his hood.

»Whatever«, Jensen shrugged.

There was a plop as Jake dropped to the ground a few feet away, now regaining a bit of control over his limbs. His left arm to be exact.

There was the sound of an ambulance driving down the street.

It stopped right by their house.

Both Jared and Jensen threw the other a look that said "Holy shit" way better than those two words ever could.

They had to keep from laughing too loud as the paramedics stormed the garden and froze at the sight of Jake crawling on the grass looking like a zombie straight out of the Walking Dead by the way he dragged most of himself with only his left arm.

Jared's eyes grew wide when he recognized one of the paramedics.

»No way«, he breathed out.

»What way?«, asked Jensen.

»That brown haired dude? That's the guy who my exgirlfriend broke up with me for.«

»Oh.« Jensen nodded. Jared had told him about the ceiling fan incident after they had broken their first lamp.

»What are you doing?«, Jared hissed as Jensen strode towards the paramedic who was standing a bit cluelessly beside Jake who was not so kindly telling him to fuck off. He was able to form words again by now, how nice.

Jensen mouthed 'trust me' to him, turned on his most charming smile and tapped the paramedic on the shoulder.

»Hi. I just wanted to thank you for what you did. If his girlfriend hadn't broken up with him because of you, I would have never met my fiancé. Your work saves lives. I wish you all the best.«

Jared turned beet red.

His gaze fell on Jordan who excitedly pointed at her camera.

So she had gotten that on tape as well.

Great.

Jensen was pushed out of the way by Jared's mother before the medic could respond in any way that didn't involve confused staring.

Jared was actually kind of glad.

And even though right now everything was, like so often, about his brother, he felt like it was the best party in a long time.

Probably ever.

Jordan would later send him a text claiming she agreed.

Jared is standing in front of their apartment building.

The name by the bell spells out 'Padackles' because there isn't enough space for both of their names individually.

He doesn't mind.

He has all eight seasons of Scrubs (they don't talk about season n-) in his backpack along with the new pepper Jensen asked him to pick up at the grocer's.

The last time anyone heard from the Viper was eight months ago.

The Peacock has been gone for just as long.

Jared is still reporting on the little stuff happening all around town.

He has no real clue what Jensen does. It's somewhat legal, pays the bills and has something to do with computers.

It's kind of like with Chandler in Friends, Jared thinks.

Even though his life is normal, it's not boring, not by a long shot.

A few days ago Muffin swallowed a fridge magnet and got stuck to the toaster for a few hours before either of them noticed. The trip to the vet has been not the greatest experience they shared as Muffin threw up right on the reception counter. Jared's relief at seeing the fridge magnet again was understandable though.

Muffin stayed clear of the kitchen for some time after that.

Jensen has adopted a gecko, called Cupcake, that somehow had ended up living in his shoe while they were on vacation and just didn't leave.

Muffin doesn't really like Cupcake.

Jared still has to meet Jensen's parents, which turns out to be harder than expected, because they are constantly traveling around the world, for whatever it is they do.

It seems to be a theme in the family, nondescriptive jobs.

Jared's parents still don't know that he is engaged.

He doesn't mind.

He is happy.

Jensen is too.

That is all that matters to him at the moment.

He is just about to push open the door when he sees it.

The world around him is turning grey.

There are shouts and screams and sirens.

Jared sighs and picks up the phone.

A few moments later Jensen rushes out the door.

They share a look, their faces breaking into twin smiles as they pull down their hoods.

They've got a job to do.

 


End file.
